Mass Effect 3: Deception
by RedHawk09
Summary: (This is my own version of the ending of Mass Effect 3. Shepard does not die because of any stupid color's.) He find the true way to defeat the Reapers, and a new purpose for the Crucible and the Citadel, and will finally be able to take everyone up on those drinks that they promised him. (Also there will be some Male Shep&Liara romance in here.)
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: (WARNING SPLOIERS) Hello fellow fans of Mass Effect, RedHawk09 here. This story is a rewrite of the ending for Mass Effect 3, personally I had no problem with Shepard dying, but I just straight up hate the endings that were available. I didn't think it was very fair for anyone, not for Shepard, Liara, Tali, Garrus, and the entire Normandy Crew, I mean just about all of them promised to buy Shepard a beer or something. Plus, I think that Sheaprd deserves to go out in a much better way. That being said, I'd like to thank Seracen Beta and his co-writer Jackie Almasy for their awesome work on their own Mass Effect 3 ending. If you haven't yet read it yet, do so right now! There will be some similarities between these stories, however that does not mean I'm copying them, they merely gave me the inspiration to write this story. Plus, I will be using my Shepard in the story: Paragon/Sole Survivor/Soldier/ Romanced Liara. **

Chapter 1: All For Nothing

He walked towards the brilliant radiating blue light, it was the hardest thing he'd even done, more difficult than leaving Ashley to die on Virmier, than letting Mordin sacrifice himself, watching Thane die. They wouldn't be alone for long, he thought sadly. Tears started rolling down his cheeks, he was afraid, not for himself but for the others. He felt so selfish; if he did this then Liara would have to raise their daughter by herself. He thought of the asari he'd come to cherish, the turian that had been a brother to him, the young quarian who was like a sister to him. He was doing this for them, all of them. He reached the edge of the walkway, and was about to jump, when he heard a sound that could be described as snickering. He turned around, and saw the Catalyst, but the laugh didn't match its earlier voice, it was too...robotic. His eyes widen in realization, the voice was Harbinger's. "Harbinger," he shouted. The Catalyst's form began to shift until; it transitioned to Harbinger's.

"Shepard," the voice sent chills down his spine, it was Harbinger, and "You continued to be an annoyance This "war" you are desperately trying to fight is pointless, you are only prolong the inevitable. We can not be stopped." Shepard became angry, and somehow found more strength, and marched up to Harbingers holographic form. He looked it in the eyes, "If that's the case then, why are you trying to send me to my death?" The machine paused, and Shepard grinned, he already knew the answer. The Reapers had never faced such heavy resistance before, and it was because of him that for the first time they felt fear. Him, an organic, a human, he had killed three Reapers now, and had united the galaxy under his leadership to fight them. So it's logical that they wanted him out of the way. Harbinger finally answered, "Your existence has created heavy resistance, although it will all be in vain, your death will weaken it."

He looked back towards the beam of light, "What would've happened to me had I jumped into that beam?" Harbinger quickly answered, "You would've have been slowly ripped apart, molecule by molecule." Shepard was now more relieved that he had heard Harbinger's "laughter" but now upset that it was all a lie. "IS THERE ANYWAY TO STOP YOU BASTARDS?" he shouted. Shepard could've sworn he saw the machine smile. "Not anymore," it simply said, then disappeared.

Not anymore, he thought, was ever a way before. His mind made the connection, "That crazy indoctrinated son of a bitch," he muttered to himself. The Illusive Man had the right idea, he did created a signal that would affected the Reaper's, but not the way he'd hoped. He limped over towards the platform, he had woken up on. When he reached it, he aimed his gun for the power-source, or at least what looked like it, and fired his pistol. The platform began to quickly descend, he braced for the impact.

Thanks to what remained of his armor, Shepard only had a few bruises and two-cracked ribs. But due to his newfound exhaustion, he barely found the strength to stand. He walked towards the corpse of the Illusive Man, he tripped on the way, but he made it. He activated the Illusive Man's Omni-tool, and scan through the data, that was stored. After what seemed like hours, but was only two minutes, he found it, a signal that could disrupt the Reaper. He was no tech expert, but he'd recognize a Reaper signature in anything, and he'd seen plenty of jamming signals as well. But the signal alone wouldn't be powerful enough; he'd need a powerful transmitter. Or an army of communication relays, which the Citadel and the Crucible provided. He grinned, all he had to do was download the data to his Omni-tool, and upload the signal data to all the relay, and the Reapers would be helpless.

**I'm still working on the other chapters now, but please, please review and let me know what you think.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey guys thanks so much for the reviews. Kind of a relief cause this is my second Mass Effect fic and no one really likes the other one. So BIG sigh of relief, thank you guys so much, but let other people know about this story. Also I'm sorry if the chapters are too short, to be honest I feel that people prefer short chapters. Let me know if you want them longer. **

**Anyway. Enjoy!**

Chapter 2: Keep Hope Alive

Shepard watched as the data was being transferred to his omni-tool, he had also found that the Illusive Man had some Medi-Gel on him, so Shepard used it to patch himself up. It wasn't perfect but it stop the bleeding from his wounds.

"Commander," Hacketts voice came over his comm, "SHEPARD! Shepard are you there?" He places his finger to his ear and answered, "I'm alright," he groaned, "A few wounds, but I lucked out and found some Medi-gel. But the Catalyst, is a no go another Reaper trick-" "Damn" Hackett interrupted, "What do we do now?"

"We're still in this fight," he said, "The Illusive Man left us a weapon without knowing it. He managed to create a signal that can disrupt the Reapers systems. I can send the signal through the communication relays on both the Citadel and the Crucible. I'll be able to broadcast it throughout the entire Sol system, but I don't know how the broadcast throughout the galaxy." He heard Hackett chuckling, "Commander you worry about getting that signal set-up and you let your team worry about the rest. I've just received word from ground forces back on earth, your team is on their way to the beam. Work fast Commander. Hackett out!"

Shepard winced a bit, getting up. He slowly made his way to the Citadel controls, and uploaded the signal. Within mere seconds, the signal was being broadcasted throughout the Sol system, and every Reaper was being affected. All of their shots were missing the intended targets and some were crashing into each other. As Shepard watched, he smiled, and almost cried at the beautiful sight. But then he heard the sound of the Conduit-like beam, activating. "Commander, Reaper ground forces are converging on your location," Hackett shouted over the comms. Shepard checked his heavy pistol, it still had full ammo, but it wouldn't be enough to keep him alive. He cursed silently at himself. Then out of the corner of his eye, he saw his saving grace. Anderson had Mk-Shurikin sub-machine gun, strapped to his side. He respectfully took the the weapon off, the man he had always thought of like a father. "Thanks Anderson," he whispered. Then heard the screams and moans of husks. He angrily glanced in the direction of the sounds, "COME AND GET ME YOU BASTARDS," he shouted, aimed his heavy pistol, and gunned the first husk he saw, "I SURVIVED AKUZE, I BEAT SOVEREIGN, I CAME BACK FROM THE DEAD, I DESTROYED THE COLLECTOR'S! WHAT MAKES YOU THINK YOU WILL KILL ME!" he let the bullets fly, killing husk after husk. He refused to die so easily.

Earth, Near The Conduct.

Garrus checked his rifle one last time, making sure that it was still battle ready. It was, just as it was two minutes ago, but Garrus wanted to be sure. His best friend, his human brother's life was on the line, and he wasn't going to let faulty weaponry be the death of both of them. He looked around, and looked at everyone else in the Maoko with him, James looked like he was about to die from waiting, Kadin looked a little freaked out, EDI looked like she was running scenarios in her head, and Grunt, Wrex, Samara, and Jack looked ready for anything. He glanced over at Tali, and smiled, she, like him, was checking her favorite shot-gun, and double checking. Then his eyes shifted towards Liara, and he quickly turned away. He couldn't bare himself to look at her, not now. He felt like he betrayed her, because just before he, Javik, and Shepard left the base, she made him promise to bring Shepard back alive. He felt like he had just broke that promise when he and Javik almost got crushed by a Maoko, and Javik got injured, forcing Shepard to send them both abroad the Normandy to get medical aid. He didn't think it be the last time that he'd see him again, but after that Reaper attack near the beam, it was starting to look that way. When they heard about the laser attack, they all thought Shepard was gone, and Liara locked herself in her cabin probably crying. He couldn't imagine what she must be thinking.

Liara gazed at the image of the beam, with determination and hate; the kind she only felt towards the Shadow Broker. She was only concerned with getting Shepard, her love, out alive. She barely survived Shepard's first death, she doubts that she'll survive another. She needed him, no matter how short there time together would be, she wanted to make the best of it.

"We're almost at the beam," shouted the driver, "Oh shit, everyone get out!" They quickly obeyed the order, confused at first but then understood why, Harbinger was coming back. "MOVE!" shouted Garrus, nobody argued. Harbinger fired it's first shot, but...it missed, instead of hitting their Maoko, it the ground twenty feet to the right. Nobody could make sense of it, until Garrus spoke up. "It's Shepard," he excitedly shouted, "I don't know how but he's screwed with the Reaper's somehow." He started running towards the beam, "I don't know about the rest of you," he shouted, "But I'm not going to keep him waiting!" He smiled, none of them saw it though, he didn't care he was stupid happy. Soon they all followed his lead, Liara managed to pull ahead of him, biotics flaring. "Reaper forces!" she shouted in angry, she fired a singularity at a group of husk and Cannibals, and quickly killed them. They all drew their weapons and fired, not slowing down, and slaughter their way through Reaper forces near the beam. A Banshee had made it to the beam and across, Garrus saw this, and made a final push towards the beam, everyone behind him. They all made it. "Hang on Shepard," they all whispered.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey guys, I'm back. Sorry for not updating, but I've been busy with school and other stuff. But I didn't forget about you guys, I was working on this chapter whenever I had the chance. There is some Liara and Shepard romance in this chapter. But more importantly there is Shepard being the awesome Bad Ass that he is. Also I may do a squeal of this story depending on where I go with it. And for the love of god, REVIEW, I cannot tell you guys how frustrating it is when I don't get reviews. Thanks to all of you who already have, and for those of you who did not, DO SO! Again I would like to thank Secrean Beta for allowing to use a detail from his own story. **

**Anyway. Enjoy!**

Chapter 3: To Hell and Back

They all landed on their hands and knees, they were all a bit disoriented. Garrus felt like he was about to vomit, or worse. But he shook it off and get to his feet, he still had to get Shepard out of here. He looked around and didn't recognize where they were. There was no sign of the Banshee they saw earlier, or any other Reaper forces for that matter. But then they heard the ear piercing scream, the one that made you wish someone would shoot you. The Banshee must've found Shepard, and they had to act fast. Garrus was about to say something, when Liara rushed past him, charging towards the screams. "Move out!" Garrus shouted.  
Liara ran into a large group of husks but quickly took them out, nothing her biotic couldn't handle. She knew that the others were behind her, but she didn't care. The only thing she cared about was finding Shepard, her love. She refused to loose him again, the thought was unacceptable to her. She failed to notice that a husk snuck up behind her, but the sound of Tali's shot-gun soon took care of it. Tali caught up to the asari she considered a sister, her thoughts were on Shepard as well. She thought of the Commander as an older brother, and she wasn't going to let anything happen to her family.

They all heard the Banshee's screams, along with the sound gun fire. A full-auto and a semi-auto, Shepard was still alive. Liara charged into the room, all reason had left her by this point, and she failed to hear Garrus shouting at her. The first thing she was when she entered the room, was a Banshee's brains being blasted out. The Banshee fell onto a pile of Banshee and Husk corpse's. Synthetic-blood was oozing all over the floor, Liara almost gaged. But then she heard the sound of a thermal clip being ejected. She turned a saw Shepard, he looked like hell. Whatever was left of his armor, was covered in blood, and he looked exhausted, as though he hadn't slept in days. She had never seen him so broken, she felt like she was going to cry. The others soon caught up with her, every-single one of them gasped when they saw Shepard. He looked up, and smiled, "Wh-what kept you," he laughed, then slumped to the ground. They heard the shrieks indicating that more Banshee's were on the way. Garrus spoke up, "Vega, Kiadin, Jack! Keep those bastards off us!" They nodded, and went over to the entrance and unleashed hell on the Reaper forces. Garrus activated his omni-tool, "Tali, give me a hand on this," he ordered, "I'm not going to be able to broadcast the signal galaxy wide by myself." She nodded, and typed furiously at her omni-tool. "Liara," he stopped, she was still gazing at Shepard with disbelief, "You make sure he's alright." He spoke softly, as far as he knew, Liara had no knowledge in the medical field, but he knew that having her around would help Shepard more than some pain killers.

Liara hurried over to Shepard and embraced him, silently crying, and whispered, "I love you." He grinned and returned her embrace, "I love you to, Liara." He whispered softly. Everything felt right, to him, as far as Shepard was concerned he didn't have anything to worry about. He felt the stress of this brutal war, slowly fade away and being replaced with the warmth that Liara was giving off. But he was also extremely tired, not even Liara could fix that, but he fought the exhaustion, determined to stay awake and enjoy his love's company. "At least we'll have a great story," as he spoke it was obvious that he was in pain, "For all those blue little children." He weakly smiled, and she cried and laughed. No matter how long she knew him, Shepard would always surprise her. "Yes," she whispered, "I suppose we will." He grinned, and closed his eyes, he could no longer fight the exhaustion. He need to rest his eyes, for a minute. Liara seemed to panic a bit, she tried to keep him awake, but he passed out.

Liara nearly had a heart attack, until she saw that Shepard's chest was slowly rising and falling. She let out a huge sigh of relief. He was just out cold, he would be fine. She hoped. She looked over to Tali and Garrus, who were still working furiously on the communication relays. To an untrained eye, it would have looked like they were getting no where. But they were, Garrus and Tali had managed to boost the signal, and the strength of the relays, they were just uploading the signal to every relay one at a time. Finally the the holographic screen, lit up green. Garrus smiled, it was kind of scared Liara, Tali was probably smiling as well, it was hard to tell with her environment suit. "The signal is being broadcast galaxy wide," Garrus shouted in joy, under a different circumstance, Liara would have smiled, hearing the turian rebel being as excited as a young child. But she smiled for a different reason, they now had the Reapers on the run. She didn't if Reapers knew or understood fear, but she was pretty sure they'd be feeling something similar to it. Suddenly there was a huge explosion. It came from the direction that Kiadin, James, and Jack had gone. They all feared the worst, but their fears were laid to rest, once they heard a familiar laugh echo throughout the entrance.

"TAKE THAT YOU SON'S OF BITCHS!" James Vega shouted. He had used a Carnage blast on a large group of Reaper forces, after he had set them on fire. Resulting in a massive explosion, and wiping out any other Reaper forces they missed. He turned to Kiadin, who was shacking his head chuckling, he turned to Jack, who was grinning while eyeing him up. He laughed some more, not because he thought it was funny, but because he just felt like laughing for real. With a war of this scale, he didn't have the heart to really laugh, and he only gave fake laughs, to keep everyone else spirits up. But he was truly happy, and it felt good to have genuine laugh. They waited, expecting more ground troops to be storming the room at any second. But nothing came. They hurried back to the room they had left Garrus, Tali, Liara, and Shepard.

Once the squad regrouped, they all agreed that they needed an extraction. . Garrus activated his comm, "This Garrus Vakarian," he simply stated, "We made it to the Citadel and have sent out the Reaper interference signal galaxy wide. We can't go back the way we came, I'm requesting an evac from anyone who can manage to send a medical team. Please respond." He held his breath, hoping someone would answer. Finally, a response came. "This Admiral Hannah Shepard," everyone went wide eyed, "I'll send an evac team, but I need your location." Garrus nodded, and activated the transmitter on his omni-tool. "Coordinates uploaded," he announced. "Received, sit tight evac team is on it's way with medics'. How many injured?" "One," Garrus glanced over to Shepard, "And the Commander is in pretty bad shape." "Understood."

**Hopefully you guys will like this chapter. If not let me know, because I don't mind changing it. The next chapter will involve some family tension, beyond that I'm telling you nothing else. REVIEW!**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Reunions  
**AU: Hey guys, I am so sorry that I haven't updated in so long. But I've been so busy with school, and other stuff that finding the time to work on the story was pretty hard. But I did not forget about you guys, I worked on it whenever I got the chance.**  
**Anyway. Enjoy!**

The doors to the Alliance warship opened, and the medic's rush to the med-bay. The doctors knew who they were treating Commander Shepard, they all knew how important he was for the war effort, so they moved with urgency. "Faint pulse, and breathing," shouted a turian doctor, " If we hurry we can make it." The commander looked like hell, there were no other words to describe it. His armor had been removed in the shuttle, amazingly, what remained of his armor had kept him untouched. But he still was in bad shape, both mentally and psychically. Shepard's team trained the medics, until they were stop by Alliance soldiers, they all knew that it would be best if they stayed behind, but they wanted to be sure he would be okay. They reluctantly stayed behind, but none of them were as vocal as Liara.  
They were led to a waiting room, and they waiting for two hours. Jack and Vega were chatting, Tali was comforting Garrus (it looked like he was crying), and Liara sat there watching the door, hoping that someone would show up soon. Kaidin looked at her, worried, he knew how much the two were in love, and he could only imagine how awful she felt. He sat next to her, placing a reassuring hand on her shoulder, and she looked at him sadly. "He'll be alright," he said, "Before you ask me how I know, lets remember who we're talking about." Liara smiled, Kaidin had a point, Shepard had gone throughout the worst tragedies, and never broke, he had proven that on Akuze. She was about to thank him, when the door opened, everybody was silent and their eyes were at the door now. Doctor Karen Chawias was standing there smiling, next to an elderly woman with blonde hair and military clothing. "He's going to be fine," Dr Chawias cheered, "Lucky for us, EDI heard you transmission. The medics here had no clue how to treat him with damaging his implants. So I to over fixing him up." The woman standing next to shook her hand, "Thank you for saving John doctor." Liara went wide eye, the woman was none other than Hannah Shepard, the mother of her love. She had never met her, not even for John's funeral. Liara was nervous. Garrus cleared his throat, "Excuse me for asking," he said, "But are you John's mother?" Hannah looked surprised, she nodded slowly. Garrus smiled, walked up to her, and extended his hand, "Garrus Vakkarian, I served with through this hell. And he's been like a brother to me." Hannah was surprised, she knew that her son had an inter-special crew, but she never thought that he'd made such strong bonds with the aliens. The rest of John's team introduced themselves, all except the young asari whose eyes were filled with worry, panic, and...love? She remember that John had mentioned that he started a relationship with an Asari. Her eyes widen, this was the Asari he had mentioned and she seemed in love with him.  
She walked up to Liara, and Liara was on the verge of a panic attack. Hannah study her for a moment, then smiled, and extended her hand out. "Dr. T'Soni," she happily said, "A pleasure to meet you." Liara felt a wave of relief wash over her, and shook Hannah's hand. They had a pleasant chat for a good two minutes, about John. Then another doctor came to them, telling them that they could visit him.  
When they got to John's room, Liara nearly cried with joy. He was fine, a few scraps, bruises, and broken bones, but he was fine. Unconscious, but fine. She rushed over to his bed side, and gripped his hand. Everyone gave her words of comfort, but they were unnecessary, she knew he would be fine. The doctors didn't know how long it would take for him to wake up, but she didn't care she would stay right by his side.

3 WEEKS LATER  
It had been three weeks and John Shepard was still unconscious, people, who didn't know him, were starting to doubt he'd even wake up. But those who were loyal to him, stood by his side early awaiting his awaking. With the alliances he had made, just about every-single fleet was guarding the ship Shepard was on. Except for the Batarians, they were chasing the remaining Reaper forces, determined to take back their homeworld. The Reapers were not finished, but they had taken to many causalities and left the Sol system.  
On board the ship, waited the men, and woman, that Shepard had fought and bleed beside. Wrex, Grunt, Javik, Miranda, Jacob, Major Kiashs, Primarch Victous, Samara, Kastumi, just about everyone who ever served on the Normandy, no matter which. All eagerly waiting join him in the fight against the Reapers.  
All was peaceful, until a unknown furious human male, in his fifties, stepped aboard. He marched straight to the medical wing, shoving everyone out of his way, however he was much gentler to other humans. Hannah Shepard recognized him, "Mark?" It was Mark Johnson Shepard, her stubborn ex-husband, and John's aggressive father. He didn't trust anyone other than humans, and it seemed this new war hadn't changed anything. Neither John or her had talked to him in years.  
"WHERE IS HE HANNAH!" He was slightly drunk, and had a pistol in hand. The last thing she wanted was him to talk to John, let alone tell him where he was. But Liara bursted out of his room, "Hannah," she happily sang, "He's waking up!" Then she saw the gun in Marks hand, and ran back into his room, fearing the worst. Mark stormed to the room, throwing Hannah to ground. Once inside, he tore Liara from his son's body, aiming his gun at her head. Shouting nonsense at her, he was about to pull the trigger. But then, he felt a tapping on his shoulder. He turn his head, and then was thrown back by a powerful punch. He crashed onto the floor, and he was surprised to find his own son pointing a gun at him.

**Pretty intense ending right? Anyway, let me know if you have any suggestion for the next chapter. Also to He who is Awesome I have taken your suggestion under advisement and have decided I may do something like that. Also sorry if this chapter is to short or has some mistakes, I just really wanted to update.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5: Let's Go To War**

**Alright sorry if this chapter is short. Been busy and had a writers block. Also I'm giving you guys an ultimatum, if you can get me move followers or reviews I will update more often. Daily, maybe. Weekly for sure. Also I have played the Citadel DLC and I am proud to say that I will may a story based off it with my own twist. Might be a sequel to this story. Also, FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS HOLY! REVIEW! GIVE ME REVIEWS JUST ABOUT THE STORY, LIKES, DISLIKES, STUFF LIKE THAT!**

**Anyway. ENJOY!**

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**John Shepard had a gun drawn on his father, normally a person would've been in emotional turmoil, but he was never close to his dad, and he stop calling him that six years ago. Plus he just watch his "father" try and kill the woman he loved, were this anyone else, he would've pulled the trigger. But instead he hit him upside the jaw with his pistol. "You ever come anywhere near me or my girlfriend again," he pointed to Liara, "And this bullet will be waiting for you." There were about a million other things that he wanted to say, but all of them would end with him shooting his father. Mark Shepard started to argue, but then James, Jack, and Garrus arrived. James and Jack pulled Mark to his feet, they weren't gentle. Then Garrus punched him across the face, knocking Mark out cold. They dragged him out of the room, leaving John and Liara, alone. "Shepard...I-" Liara was cut off by his lips brought to hers. When he separated he looked at her in awe, "Please don't apologize for that!" She smiled, gave him a look and he locked the door to his room.**

**A good thirty minutes later, Liara and John exited the room. Everyone waiting for Shepard's awakening, was ready to get back into the fight by his side. He gave one of his legendary speech's that always boosted moral beyond belief. (I'll think of the speech later I just want to give you guys an awesome story.) Shepard's crew, the Normandy's crew, SR1&SR2, departed together. The fleets were led by the legendary frigate, to end the Reapers once and for all. **

**/On Board the Normandy/**  
**The Normandy had become very crowded, but there was room abroad for everyone. Most of the time they were prepping for the next battle. According to EDI there was a large military presence still left on Palivian. That where they were heading. And after that Thessia. Shepard's plan was simple deploy troops to the ground, and kick ass in the skies. **

**Shepard was alone with his thoughts. He hated his father even more now, he's regretting not pulling the trigger, but he pushed it all aside. He had something much large to hate, and it deserved his full attention. He always tried to be a peacemaker, but the truth is that he had dark side. But he knew better than to let it rule his life. So he always set out to make the world, or galaxy, a better place. He smiled as he watched his crew gather together in the cargo bay, prepping for the coming battle. He went up to his cabin with an unexplainable smile on his face. **

**Liara was up in his cabin waiting for him, she lit up when she saw him. As did he. He loved her more than anything, and was looking forward to spending whatever time he had with her. Thanks to the implants that Cerberus had given him, he could possibly live as long as Liara. The thought excited him, spending the rest of his life with her was the most important thing to him. But he was also scared, there was no idea how his body would react to his extended life. But he knew Liara would stick by him no matter what. **

**"Shepard," she happily said, "I'm glad you're here!" She was smiling, and if he didn't know any better, it seemed like Liara was hiding something from him. But he discard that thought, he knew her better.**

**"Really," he chuckled, moving closer to her, "I thought you'd enjoy chatting with our new crew." He was joking, he knew that socializing was never her strong suit, but she had improved over the years. She gave him a seductive look, that he couldn't resist. **

**"Well," she got closer to him taking his hands into hers, "I was hoping to spend whatever time we have before the battle with you. Alone." She gave him a long peck on the lips. Giving him a pleading look. He could never say no to her. So they spent the night together. Under the stars.**

**Shepard woke up, no nightmares. Finally! After months of restless nights, he finally had sound and peaceful sleep. He looked at the beautiful body of his lover and smiled. Without her none of this would be possible. Everything he was doing was for her, to give her a future that she truly deserved. The Reaper were preventing that right now, they had to be destroyed for that reason. That, and about a million others. He had been told, constantly that half the things he's done was impossible. He will prove them wrong. No, they will prove them wrong.**

**He smiled to himself, "We can do this," he thought cheerfully, "More importantly we will see tomorrow. We will go to war." **

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**Alright first I want to apologize how short this chapter is, I will try and change that. Also if there are any DmC Devil May Cry fans out there, I have been seriously considering writing a fic. Send me a message if you'd like to see that. Also if any of you play ME3 PS3 online look me up, under a different screen name so send me a message. Also I have an idea for the story but I need your input about whether or not I should use it. So send me a message.**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: This Is War

**Alright whats up guys, wanna say thank you for your kind words of encouragement. They mean a lot to me. But for the love of good leave more reviews! I don't care if it says that the chapter sucked let me know. Your feedback matters. Seriously. Also I don't know if any of you guys took up my offer about playing online ME3 for PS3. Because someone called Shakeitup0369 something sent me a friend request and I'm kind of freaked out. So yeah. WTF. Also I want to tell you that I put a lot of time and effort into this chapter. So REVIEW! Or you don't get anymore chapters. Also quick shout out to He who is awesome, you may wanna wait til this story is done before you finish your story. Just a suggestion, you don't have to listen to me. Also, as I have stated in my other fics, that if I get enough reviews or followers/favs I will make you guys an original book cover for this story. Let me know if you're interested or not. **

**Anyway. ENJOY!**

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"Departure to Palivin in two minutes," EDI's voice filled the cabin of the shuttle that Shepard was aboard, along with Wrex, Garrus, Tali, Samara, Javik, and Jack. The other shuttle had the rest of the crew. The plan was simple, the two team would land and regroup to carve a path for the other ground forces. The Normandy is the only ship that had the stealth FTL so technologically advanced, and even with Reaper's being disabled they still had some targeting and firing power. Plus the Reaper's have set-up AA-Guns on the planet, ran on Turian and Reaper tech, so the guns were unaffected by the jamming signal. Luckily they were not going in alone, the Geth somehow have managed to be unaffected by the jamming signal, and offered to be of assistance, considering they too have FTL stealth drives. The Geth allowed other species to board their stealth ships and are backing up the Normandy team. Shepard smiled, "This will show them," he thought happily.

"Lunching shuttles," EDI announced, "Prepare for a bumpy ride." Shepard smiled, he couldn't help but noticed how much more human EDI had become. He trusted the AI like everyone else on his team, hell she had pulled his ass out of the fire a lot before and during this war. He was glad that she took over Dr. Eva's body, even though she nearly scared the hell out of him at first. "Time to get prepped," he thought. "Garrus think you can pass around some armor piercing ammo," he asked and Garrus nodded, "Jack pass around some warp ammo, I don't want anyone being killed by a Banshee. Also I'll give you guys some incendiary, disruptor, and cryo ammo. Understood?" They nodded in understanding, normally Wrex would try to act like a bad-ass and refuse the mods, but he rather not take chances with Reapers. They all exchanged the modified ammo's and kept it ready.

They felt the shuttle begin to rumble, meaning that the AA guns had spotted them, they weren't too worried, Cortez was flying the shuttle and he was one of the best pilots they had ever seen. Their shuttle was getting knocked around, sure, but not a single shot hit or grazed them. Plus Steve had new look of determination in his eyes, Shepard was not sure where it came from, but he was glad Steve had found it. It was not longer before they touched ground, Shepard opened the hatched, "Alright this is it," he shouted through his N7 breather, "GO GO GO!" He watched each one of his squad exit the shuttle and could not help but feel a sense of pride. He could not explain why he felt it. But he knew it had something to do with the loyalty of the people who followed him. He was the last to leave the shuttle, armed with his Phalionx assault rifle, modified Black Widow, a Palidin V, and his modified Scrizmar shotgun, he was more than ready for anything.

His team had taken cover behind fallen statue of a Turian, there were Reaper ground troops all over the place, however with out their masters to aid them, the synthetic monster were acting on there most basic instinct and core programing, kill. However they were not as intelligent as they once were, in fact they acted like a single Geth on a lone platform. However, despite the lack of intelligence, the Marduars and Cannibals were still threats. Shepard learned that the hard way, before getting to cover, his shields were broken by a hail of laser fire, his new armor held against the heavy fire. Once behind cover with his team, his brain started crafting a plan.

He had Jack and Samara create a barrier. He order Garrus to switch to his sniper, as did he, he took Wrex and Garrus took Javik, and Tali stayed behind to help cover Jack and Samara. Shepard and Wrex took up position on the right flank, while Garrus and Javik took the left. Wrex was using an assault rifle, using incendiary ammo, and unloading his weapon into Cannibals, while Shepard used disruptor ammo, and nailed a bunch of Marduars right between the eyes. Wrex made his usual smart-ass remarks every-time a Cannibal went down, and filled the air with his usual laughter. Shepard was more than glad he never even considered sabotaging the Geonphage cure, he preferred to have this Krogan an ally than an enemy. Shepard could hear the sound of Husks being slaughtered by a shotgun, and he just knew that Tali was protecting Jack and Samara. Then he heard Garrus shouting his usual catch-phrase, "Scoped and dropped" he smiled, there is no other group of soldier that Shepard rather fight beside with, than the men and woman he had come to know and trust. They put down wave after wave of Reaper troops, but they just kept coming, and although they were relatively easy to put down, the squad was running low on thermal clips.

"Where the hell is our back up," shouted Jack. Shepard himself was curious as to what happened to their back-up, Kaidin was leading the other team, and if the team did run into trouble they were more than capable of handling it. So where were they? They couldn't be dead, they couldn't be. Liara couldn't be dead! He thought to himself, he gripped his weapon tighter. "They'll be here, just keep up the pressure!" he shouted. And so they did, but it seemed that everyone was very low on clips, while Shepard had barely gone through half of his. He looked at his team then back at the incoming wave of Reapers. He took a deep breath, he was going to give them some breathing room.

"Garrus!" he shouted, the Turian turned towards his direction, and answered. "I'm going to try and take some of the pressure off us, give me your shield modulator," he said bluntly. Garrus looked surprised, but did as he was asked, and help add te shield mod. "Just make sure to be careful," Garrus said, "Liara will kill me if you die again. And quite frankly she scares me now more than ever." Shepard laughed and thanked his Turian brother and rushed out of the barrier, he could hear protest from the others, but he ignored them, he was already being pelted with laser fire, but his shields were holding nicely. He gunned down a Cannibal with his shotgun, and plunged his omni-blade into a husk. In a short, but bloody, minutes Shepard had killed all the Cannibals and Husks. All that were left were some Muardurs but their aim was useless. The end of the battle seemed in sight, until Shepard heard that god awful scream, that belong to a Banshee.

His heart skipped a beat, the Banshee easily made it's way towards him, it looked like the end, but then out of no where two biotic warps, a reave, and a Carnage shot, ripped through the Banshee's barrier. Shepard did not waste anytime, he pulled his Palidin hand-cannon out and shot three rounds. Two into the Banshee's eyes and one into it's head. And it dropped dead letting out it death wale. Shepard fell to his knees to catch his breath, he took off his helmet and tossed it away, it had about three cuts from where lasers grazed it. He chuckled a bit, he had beaten death once more. "SHEPARD!" shouted a loving and familiar voice, Liara's voice. She reached him quickly and threw her arms around him, he could see tears in her eyes. Instantly he felt terrible that he had caused her this. "I'm alright," he breathed. She let out a sigh of relief, kissed him on the cheek, and looked into his eyes. Then she looked mad, "What were you thinking," she demanded, "You could've been killed!" Shepard would have argued with her, but the sound of a Brute was not far away, and when in sight it looked awful. The Brute was staggering as if it were a drunken animal of sorts. If it were under different circumstance Shepard would have laughed, but instead he brought took out his Black Widow and loaded it with armor piercing rounds. He had the Brutes head in his sights, but he was waiting for the perfect moment to make shot through it's eyes. A second later and the moment can into view, without a second thought he squeezed the trigger and watched the bullet go right through the Brutes head, which exploded once the bullet left. The headless corpse fall to the ground. He then looked back to Liara who stared at him in awe for a second. "The Brute had better chances than them," he motioned to the hundreds of other Reaper corpses. She gave a soft laugh, "I suppose you're right," she answered. They got to their feet and regrouped with the other who were now behind the fallen statue.

Miranda, Garrus, EDI, and Kadin were looking over a holographic layout of the terrain that would lead them to the first AA gun, going over a plan that they had formed. The AA gun that they had picked was currently unprotected by an actual Reaper, so that made it their first target. EDI pointed out that all the other AA guns were connected by a fuel-line of sorts and that a well placed explosive charge could successfully destroy the other AA guns. The AA guns were about the size of a large skyscraper, and had about twenty to forty levels that were used for maintenance The path to AA gun was fairly clear, but scans from scouting drones showed that there would be heavy resistance once inside. Even with their numbers, they would be outnumbered and out-gunned. Unless they got reinforcements, their attack on the AA gun looked like a suicide mission. Which of course they were all used to by now. They could not risk breaking radio silence, considering it was still unknown the extent of the jamming signal effect on the Reapers.

It looked like they were out of options, until five large shuttles landed nearby. Shepard, Wrex, and James checked out the one closest to their position. Not leaving this to chance, all three had their weapons out and aimed at the shuttle. The hatch opened just a crack, releasing a loud hissing sound. Once it fully opened, James, Wrex, and Shepard were surprised by the passengers. Inside the shuttle, contained, a female Turian, a male Krogan, two N7 soldiers, a Quarian, a Volus, an Asari, a Vorcha, and a Geth hunter. All armed to the teeth, knives, thermal clips, you name it they probably had it. The Turian and Asari wore black armor with similar patterns, blue and red stripes, so it was safe to assume they were from a mercenary group. The Volus had a sniper, that looked similar to a Widower rifle, with some personal touches. The Quarian was male, looked like your average one, excepted for what looked like a C-Sec symbol on his arm. The Krogan had armor like Grunt's but it had Talon colors on it. The Vorcha was just your average Vorcha, but it had a tattoo on it's opposite shoulder that had the letters "C" and "A" surrounded by a bunch of guns. One of the N7's looked like a Phantom so she must be an infiltrator, the other looked appeared to be a Slayer. The Geth hunter looked like a normal one, but it had a symbol that resembled the Vocha's tattoo. They all aimed there weapons, it was a basic Mexican stand-off.

After a few seconds of silence, Shepard spoke up. "My name's Commander Shepard," he simply stated, "Are you the back-up we were promised?" The diverse squad lowered their weapons, and looked at him in awe, except for the Krogan, Vocha, and Geth. Finally the Quarian, Asari, Turian, and N7's stood in salute. The slayer spoke-up first, "Yes sir! Our orders are that once on the ground that we are to be under your command." He stood in salute, Shepard felt award when people treated him this way. "Thank you," he waited for the man to answer. "Lt. Kyle Nash. SIR!" he answered so proudly. "Thank you Lt," Shepard answered, "All of you at ease. First thing you need to know, that I'd prefer you treat me like any other officer and not to address me as 'Sir' all the time. Understood?" They all answered with and "Understood, sir!" Shepard knew this was going to take some getting used to. He directed the soldiers over towards the statue they had taken cover. There he ran into the other, all returning with more soldiers with similar logos as the Vorcha and Geth. Plus in each group was a Geth unit, Shepard assumed that the Geth units were the shuttle pilots. Soon the sun was starting to set, and with details of the plan sent to everyones' onmi-tools, Shepard order the team's to move out and find shelter in near by buildings.

Shepard and his team had taken shelter in what may have been a hotel of sorts. They assigned two to a room. Shepard shared a room with Liara, of course. Shepard, now removed of his armor, was extremely tired, after all the fighting he had done today. Liara placed her hands on his shoulders, then placed them on his chest, and kissed his neck. Although he enjoyed it, there was something on his mind that was bugging him. "Liara?" he asked. "Hmm?" she responded. "Do you recognize the symbol, that some of those soldiers had?" he asked. She was silent for a minute, then had an "Aha" look on her face. "Yes," she softly said, "It's the symbol for the new Council Armada, it's a newly developed military service that consists of soldiers from each species. And if I'm not mistaken they only accept the best soldier into there ranks." Shepard thought about that for a moment. The council had taken made some good choices while he was unconscious. And now he had some of the best soldiers in the galaxy under his command. Tomorrow the Reapers are in for a nasty surprise.

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**Alright so this is probably my longest chapter for this story so far. Anyway as I stated above let me know what you think about what I've done so far. A please let me know about that cover thing. I really wanna post it up. I'm an art student, and I need to get my work out there so I can be recognized. If you don't it's fine like I said, it**'**s all up to you guys. I REPEAT! REVIEW! And also if anyone out there plays ME3 online with PS3 look me up. My screen name is Darkice1516. Anyway.**

**REVIEW!**

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(I'D like to apologize to all of you real readers about this, but it must be said I DO NOT take jokes about suicide lightly)

**ALRIGHT I DON'T KNOW WHO, BUT SOMEONE TOLD ME TO GO KILL MYSLEF BECAUSE THIS STORY SUCKS. WHOEVER YOU ARE, LET'S JUST SAY YOU'RE LUCKLY THAT I CAN'T FIND YOU! I HAVE ALMOST KILLED MYSELF YOU JACKASS, DON'T JOKE ABOUT THAT STUFF. WHOEVER YOU ARE BE GLAD I'LL NEVER BE ABLE TO FIND YOU, CAUSE MOST LIKELY I WOULD KICK YOUR ASS STRAIGHT TO HELL!**


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